:00:11. > :00:16.Tonight, We Investigate How The Voluntary Sector Is Playing A Vital
:00:17. > :00:28.Role In Social Care, Following Council Cuts In The Region.
:00:29. > :00:33.We meet the north`west prosecutor in charge of some of the country's
:00:34. > :00:36.highest profile court cases. We meet the Northwest prosecutor in charge
:00:37. > :00:42.of some of the country's highest profile court cases. Nobody should
:00:43. > :00:47.be above the law in this country. We reveal why conserving wildlife in
:00:48. > :00:53.Lancashire is more than just a job stop I never get up and think, I
:00:54. > :00:54.don't want to go to work today. I come out and enjoy the reserve for
:00:55. > :01:15.an hour before work. Local councils across the Northwest
:01:16. > :01:20.are making massive cuts to their budgets this spring, none more so
:01:21. > :01:27.than Liverpool City Council. It is facing 100 and ?66 million worth of
:01:28. > :01:31.savings over the next few years We have been looking at the impact
:01:32. > :01:38.those cuts guitar on the most vulnerable and how charities could
:01:39. > :01:41.fill the gap. Dave and Pauline from crocs are
:01:42. > :01:51.carers. They have been taking care of vulnerable adults by three
:01:52. > :01:57.decades. Alma has been for us `` with us for 13 years and Keith has
:01:58. > :02:03.been with us for 15 years. It is a little bit like fostering for older
:02:04. > :02:11.people. They are part of the family. We encourage them to access as much
:02:12. > :02:17.of the community as they can. Like the local day centre they go to
:02:18. > :02:23.Alma and Keith have always made use of a local day centre, the
:02:24. > :02:28.Parthenon. But along with 11 other council run day centres in
:02:29. > :02:32.Liverpool, is future is now in doubt due to budget cuts. The centre is a
:02:33. > :02:43.lifeline for Keith and Alma as well as respite for Dave and Pauline The
:02:44. > :02:48.centre helps keep them healthy and it adds to the work we do. The fact
:02:49. > :02:55.that it helps them keep healthy it also helps us keep healthy, because
:02:56. > :03:02.we get that respite and that break that the council facility offers
:03:03. > :03:08.us. It is a council facility that is exceptional. But the council has
:03:09. > :03:14.tough choices to make in Liverpool. They say these cuts are necessary
:03:15. > :03:20.because of ?173 million worth of cuts to its funding from central
:03:21. > :03:24.government. If you cut every single service in the council, the library
:03:25. > :03:28.service, the leisure centres, regeneration, you would still have
:03:29. > :03:34.to make cuts to adult social care, such as the cuts to the council by
:03:35. > :03:39.the Government, so it is finding ways to do this without hurting
:03:40. > :03:43.people. We have one of the best services in the country, we have
:03:44. > :03:48.developed that over three years we spent a lot of time doing it and now
:03:49. > :03:54.we have got to the point where we cannot cut any longer, we are now
:03:55. > :03:57.cutting into the bone. The voluntary sector in Liverpool is already
:03:58. > :04:05.helping to bridge the gap in funding. This homeless hostel was
:04:06. > :04:09.previously run by the council, but the salvation army took it over in
:04:10. > :04:23.2012 and have already managed to make savings. We make sure all
:04:24. > :04:34.residents receive quality support. How many people are residents here?
:04:35. > :04:40.There are 26 residents. We operate like schools programmes and
:04:41. > :04:45.resettlement programmes. White is it important to have a charity doing
:04:46. > :04:52.this and said the council M B Salvation Army have centres across
:04:53. > :05:01.the country and head in London, which the council doesn't have and
:05:02. > :05:06.other charities might not have. How important is it for you to be able
:05:07. > :05:12.to use a service like this? They help me out with my money, they put
:05:13. > :05:16.it in the safe, they take me shopping and they do really well for
:05:17. > :05:23.me. They take me to important appointments, because I have been in
:05:24. > :05:32.trouble ever since my mum passed away. I was in hospital for months
:05:33. > :05:35.having cancer treatment and when that finished, I didn't have
:05:36. > :05:43.anywhere else to go. I came here and they have been very supportive. I do
:05:44. > :05:50.think it is important to have hostels run by organisations like
:05:51. > :05:55.this? Because the people here would be out on the street otherwise. But
:05:56. > :06:01.then our concerns has already been too much reliance on the voluntary
:06:02. > :06:13.sector. The voluntary sector in the bubble has always played a massive
:06:14. > :06:20.part in social care. We also sustained those services and
:06:21. > :06:24.subsidise them, and I honestly hold my hands up and say, if it wasn t
:06:25. > :06:28.for the voluntary sector and the work they do in this city, we
:06:29. > :06:35.wouldn't have been able to survive the last three years. Charities and
:06:36. > :06:44.voluntary organisations have been doing their services David `` since
:06:45. > :06:53.long before David Cameron coined the term they Big Society. This
:06:54. > :07:08.organisation runs a shirt like scheme which Keith and Alma years.
:07:09. > :07:18.This organisation runs a shared life scheme. People can see the services
:07:19. > :07:24.still need to be delivered, but without funding, we're not in a
:07:25. > :07:31.position to be able to do that. We know the council and not wanting to
:07:32. > :07:36.cut services, but obviously, they have a budget and they have to make
:07:37. > :07:41.that budget balance, it is how we can work together to make sure we're
:07:42. > :07:48.getting as much out of every pound we spend as possible. The breakfast
:07:49. > :07:54.bar in crocs to this part of that and for Alma and Keith, it is a
:07:55. > :07:58.place they feel welcome. On March the 5th, the council will meet to
:07:59. > :08:02.make difficult decisions about the future of adult services. Until
:08:03. > :08:06.then, carers like Dave and Pauline will continue to do their job as
:08:07. > :08:15.they always have, but with the knowledge that things are going to
:08:16. > :08:18.change. One of the frustrating things is that for many years,
:08:19. > :08:23.council run services have really been excellent and the kind of
:08:24. > :08:34.pressure that is going to come from cuts is really worrying. And the
:08:35. > :08:37.fact that some of the day services are now in jeopardy, what does that
:08:38. > :08:45.mean for the people you look after and other carers? They are an
:08:46. > :08:50.intrinsic part of everyday life and if we didn't have these services in
:08:51. > :08:59.place, the routine which is so important, the benefits we get from
:09:00. > :09:09.the services that add their, they are council run services. We have
:09:10. > :09:17.been doing this for 30 years and I am 60 for this year, we will carry
:09:18. > :09:25.on doing this for as long as we possibly can. We just hope in the
:09:26. > :09:28.future we are not looking at some of the potential difficulties we could
:09:29. > :09:33.be looking at. We will get around these that the cookies, we will find
:09:34. > :09:37.a way of making sure that our service users carry on living a
:09:38. > :09:45.healthy and fruitful life, but for a lot of other people, I think that is
:09:46. > :09:53.going to be difficult. Coming up, getting close to nature at Leighton
:09:54. > :09:58.Moss in Lancashire. There are great wildlife programmes on the telly,
:09:59. > :10:03.but to see it up close through your own telescope is amazing.
:10:04. > :10:07.There are more than a dozen cases of historical sexual abuse still being
:10:08. > :10:13.investigated in the north`west according to the man reading the
:10:14. > :10:23.prosecution teams. Nazir Afzal is the most senior Asian lawyer in the
:10:24. > :10:31.country and has been described as many things. I went to meet him
:10:32. > :10:37.Nobody should be above the law in this country, it does not matter who
:10:38. > :10:41.they are. Having a day in court heating the evidence believed really
:10:42. > :10:48.is important. Justice, to be effective, has to be swift. Murders
:10:49. > :10:51.of these women police constables were nothing short of executions,
:10:52. > :11:01.planned, premeditated and called blooded. We spent generations,
:11:02. > :11:06.generations telling children they should be seen and not heard. Why
:11:07. > :11:15.are we now surprised when we hear what they have to say? He is a
:11:16. > :11:18.master of the sound bite, a natural communicator who can deliver a 0
:11:19. > :11:23.minute speech without notes and keep an audience in sheet. Nazir Afzal
:11:24. > :11:28.has led some of this country's highest profile cases. He's
:11:29. > :11:34.passionate about giving what he calls a voice to the voiceless,
:11:35. > :11:44.judicial protection for vulnerable, especially victims of sexual abuse,
:11:45. > :11:49.honour `based crime and violence. A quarter of a century ago, he was a
:11:50. > :11:52.humble lawyer in Birmingham, but one with high aspirations and a belief
:11:53. > :11:59.that the world in court could be fair and just. When was the last
:12:00. > :12:07.time you were in court? About a month ago. Nothing looks like this
:12:08. > :12:12.any more. I want to make a difference. If you go back in
:12:13. > :12:17.history, Gandhi was a lawyer, Nelson Mandela was a lawyer, it is not just
:12:18. > :12:24.about appearing in a courtroom, you can make a difference as a lawyer.
:12:25. > :12:29.As a young man, you were bullied at school, racially abused, attacked.
:12:30. > :12:35.At no point did you go forward and seek help from authority, but now
:12:36. > :12:52.you really promote that comedy promote going forward to get help.
:12:53. > :13:01.In the 60s and 70s, it was part of growing up that you were racially
:13:02. > :13:11.abused. I was told to take it on the chin. Having been through that
:13:12. > :13:19.journey, I've realised that the only way you can stop it is by
:13:20. > :13:21.challenging it. Today we're at the Association of Chief Police
:13:22. > :13:24.Officer's national conference on child sexual abuse and here we are
:13:25. > :13:31.in Lancashire just outside Blackburn and this is a very important event.
:13:32. > :13:40.The police lead for child sexual abuse is based here in Lancashire.
:13:41. > :13:44.Lancashire is seen as best practice throughout the country and so from
:13:45. > :13:59.our perspective, it's key to be part of this. Nobody should be above the
:14:00. > :14:03.law in this country. It doesn't matter who they are. Somebody said
:14:04. > :14:06.you only pick on certain people I can't win. I was attacked for
:14:07. > :14:09.prosecuting lots of Asians, I was attacked for not prosecuting certain
:14:10. > :14:13.people. Because I am being attacked from all directions, maybe I am in
:14:14. > :14:16.the right place. We look for the evidence, we follow the evidence, we
:14:17. > :14:22.present the evidence. Delighted to be here. Following the evidence
:14:23. > :14:25.reopening and mounting a successful prosecution of Asian man in the
:14:26. > :14:33.Rochdale abuse trial led to extreme right wing hate mail. The far right,
:14:34. > :14:40.their narrative is all Asians, all muslins are all the same. When Asian
:14:41. > :14:47.Muslim were brought to justice, that destroyed then narrative. His family
:14:48. > :14:50.were put under police protection. E`mails were sent to David Cameron
:14:51. > :14:57.and bizarrely President Obama demanding that he be sacked. My
:14:58. > :15:02.family don't deserve that. I have made choices about the job I have
:15:03. > :15:05.taken, the calling that I have. The fact that they havea panic alarm in
:15:06. > :15:12.the house and additional police presence is something that I have
:15:13. > :15:17.had to come to terms with. I am prepared to take it and I will
:15:18. > :15:20.protect them with my life. My pain and suffering is nothing to the
:15:21. > :15:24.parents of a bereaved child. Somebody said to me I was courageous
:15:25. > :15:32.in bringing that prosecution. The victims are the courageous people. I
:15:33. > :15:35.just did my job. Nazir devotes much of his spare time to helping
:15:36. > :15:41.charities, particularly ones at creating opportunities for
:15:42. > :15:46.youngsters in deprived communities. But he's also responsible for a huge
:15:47. > :15:54.legal team. 700 people across the region dealing annually with 10 ,000
:15:55. > :15:58.prosecutions. We've the highest profile cases in the country. It's
:15:59. > :16:03.not by accident, it's by design because we have taken on these
:16:04. > :16:06.challenging cases. How many cases of historical sexual abuse are
:16:07. > :16:10.currently on the books? There are dozens around the country and there
:16:11. > :16:14.are more than a dozen here in the north`west of England. These figures
:16:15. > :16:20.vary day`to`day depending on what day of the week it is. It's a
:16:21. > :16:23.growing area of concern in the sense that more people are coming forward
:16:24. > :16:29.with confidence and the courage to talk about their experiences, talk
:16:30. > :16:32.about what happened to them. We re seeing more cases, the police are
:16:33. > :16:40.seeing more referrals and we're taking more cases to court. That's
:16:41. > :16:49.as it should be. Walking for charity isn't something
:16:50. > :16:52.you'd associate with the Crown Prosecution Service but raising
:16:53. > :17:01.money to provide free justice is another of his passions. Even if
:17:02. > :17:05.today his heart isn't quite in it. I must admit I am exhausted today
:17:06. > :17:10.Last night I didn't get home until ten o'clock. I was in the office at
:17:11. > :17:15.seven and had a meeting at nine I am doing this walk this evening
:17:16. > :17:19.Tomorrow it's a full`day's work I have to go to Middlesbrough in the
:17:20. > :17:22.evening. I get home at three in the morning. Saturday night I have
:17:23. > :17:25.another function to go to. Sunday hopefully is a day of rest and then
:17:26. > :17:36.it starts off again on Monday. Mayor, how long are you going to be
:17:37. > :17:46.walking with us? A couple of minutes. A couple of minutes? You
:17:47. > :17:51.have the official car. I'm sure it'll come and pick you up. I used
:17:52. > :17:56.to promote clubs when I was in London. What kind of clubs? House
:17:57. > :18:01.and garage. Most people think house is where you live and a garage is
:18:02. > :18:05.where you park your car. Actually I used to do house and garage music in
:18:06. > :18:10.the early '90s. I love trance music and it really enables me to go off
:18:11. > :18:14.in a world that I am not party to. At the same time I love the Beatles
:18:15. > :18:16.and I am very eclectic when it comes to my music. It probably is the only
:18:17. > :18:28.thing that enables me to switch off. I have have spent 20 years going to
:18:29. > :18:33.court and I always feel a real sense of duty. When you see the tears of
:18:34. > :18:37.witnesses and the tears of defendants and victims, it gets you
:18:38. > :18:45.right here and I think from my perspective you need to do that to
:18:46. > :18:49.see it's not just a paper job. There are real people involved and real
:18:50. > :19:02.lives are impacted by what happens in this business.
:19:03. > :19:11.We've got some amazing countryside here in the North West but all isn't
:19:12. > :19:14.well with the state of our wildlife. A recent stock take by
:19:15. > :19:17.conservationists showed that 60 of our species are in decline. That's a
:19:18. > :19:21.pretty grim picture but as Judy Hobson found out in one part of
:19:22. > :19:35.Lancashire, work continues to buck that trend.
:19:36. > :19:39.In a world that seems increasingly fast and frantic, this place
:19:40. > :19:44.represents an oasis of relative calm.
:19:45. > :19:48.While many of our species appear to be struggling, wildlife in this
:19:49. > :19:54.corner of North Lancashire is thriving.
:19:55. > :19:59.The Leighton Moss nature reserve is approaching its 50th anniversary.
:20:00. > :20:03.Half a century of conservation work which has created this on a site of
:20:04. > :20:14.major importance for a diverse range of plants and animals.
:20:15. > :20:18.It's a rich landscape with reed beds but also woodland, grassland,
:20:19. > :20:25.freshwater and then habitats extending out to Morecambe Bay. This
:20:26. > :20:34.young biology graduate has landed himself a plum job as one of the
:20:35. > :20:38.RSPB's assistant wardens. When I was at university, I made the decision,
:20:39. > :20:42.do I want to make lots of money or do I want to enjoy going to work? I
:20:43. > :20:47.never want to get up and think, urgh, I've got to go to work today.
:20:48. > :20:51.Every day I can't wait. I get on my bike, come here and just enjoy the
:20:52. > :20:54.reserve an hour before work. I enjoy my breakfast here. It's an
:20:55. > :20:59.absolutely amazing place. Alistair, along with the other wardens and
:21:00. > :21:02.volunteers, have their work cut out. Most people come to the nature
:21:03. > :21:10.reserve and think, this is a very nice environment. They couldn't be
:21:11. > :21:15.further from the truth really. This reed bed that we're in at the
:21:16. > :21:19.moment, if it was left to go, It'll dry out and every year it grows and
:21:20. > :21:23.then dies back and it grows up a layer of soil. It dries out and
:21:24. > :21:28.paves the way for trees like these willow to come in. In the winter we
:21:29. > :21:33.cut vast areas of reed bed, rake all that off so that the organic layer
:21:34. > :21:39.doesn't build`up. The reserve opened in 1964. On the odd occasion, film
:21:40. > :21:44.crews captured a slice of life. Here in 1979, they are given a helping
:21:45. > :21:46.hand as the weather hits hard and in the previous summer, John Wilson
:21:47. > :21:55.evangelised about some of the smaller creatures. One of the most
:21:56. > :21:59.interesting groups are the moths. We've in total 300 different species
:22:00. > :22:04.of moths here. We study them by catching them. We use this trap
:22:05. > :22:12.which is a very bright light and it tracks the moths because most of
:22:13. > :22:16.them fly after dark. Alistair now carries on with this great
:22:17. > :22:22.tradition. If I take one of the egg boxes out, I will show you the
:22:23. > :22:32.different species. Just there, look how hairy he is?
:22:33. > :22:38.This is an elephant hawk moth. Very common garden species of moth. You
:22:39. > :22:56.can see how beautiful it's. `` it is. There's a different type
:22:57. > :22:59.here. You can see they are from the same family. They're the same shape,
:23:00. > :23:03.just different type of habitats This one is more suited to the
:23:04. > :23:06.floral areas and this one is more suited to the brick areas. There's
:23:07. > :23:13.another amazing one that looks like a twig. This is a buff tip. As an
:23:14. > :23:18.indicator species of a reed bed these species are doing very well.
:23:19. > :23:26.We're getting newspecies every year and the number of moths we're
:23:27. > :23:29.catching is staying fairly stable. On this reserve, they are doing
:23:30. > :23:32.pretty well. Elsewhere, they aren't doing so well. These aren't flying
:23:33. > :23:36.away because they are too cold to fly at the moment. They'll be using
:23:37. > :23:41.the heat from my hands to warm up their wings. Shaking so they warm
:23:42. > :23:49.their muscles up in their wings There you go. Amazing.
:23:50. > :23:54.For the human visitors, the big attraction is the birds. The variety
:23:55. > :24:08.is astonishing and the mood, not always so calm.
:24:09. > :24:14.If you like bird`watching, if you can get here in spring or early
:24:15. > :24:17.summer, there is one great find The beautiful Avocet. With its
:24:18. > :24:20.distinctive up curved beak, it's one of the great success stories of
:24:21. > :24:24.British conservation and now the emblem of the RSPB. It disappeared
:24:25. > :24:27.from Britain until the 1940s when it returned to East Anglia. Over time,
:24:28. > :24:38.it's moved up north. David has been involved with the
:24:39. > :24:44.RSPB for almost 50 years. All last night's catch will be in that bottle
:24:45. > :24:47.there. Every day for the last 1 years, he's had a special task at
:24:48. > :24:51.Leighton Moss. He counts the number of visitors arriving from the sea
:24:52. > :24:59.and entering the freshwater around the reedbeds. Another 15 or so
:25:00. > :25:08.there. There's one slightly thicker one there. It'll be a feast that is
:25:09. > :25:15.a little older. Eels are slippery. There's a big one. There's a
:25:16. > :25:21.whopper. That will be three years old. This is one of the most
:25:22. > :25:26.detailed studies anywhere in the country. To be honest, the movements
:25:27. > :25:31.are so complex that the more I study this subject, the more confused I
:25:32. > :25:36.become. I guess I'll have to be here still studying eels when I am 1 0
:25:37. > :25:40.years old. I have a very special bird here which is a heron which is
:25:41. > :25:45.extremely rare and it only lives in these unique reedbeds. They've been
:25:46. > :25:54.trained over the centuries and they depend on this habitat. Eels are an
:25:55. > :25:57.important item in their diet. Eels are the important diet for birds
:25:58. > :26:03.like herons, egrets and otters which are also thriving here.
:26:04. > :26:10.Spotting birds at the reserve is easy enough although some, like the
:26:11. > :26:15.bearded tits, are more elusive. You can always take it easy and observe
:26:16. > :26:19.life from the comfort of the cafe. Webcams offer images of bearded tits
:26:20. > :26:23.glamping here in their stylish man made nests. And then there are the
:26:24. > :26:38.slightly geeky marsh harrier chicks. To be honest, there is nothing
:26:39. > :26:42.better than being out on location. Quite happy to see whatever there is
:26:43. > :26:51.about. Especially this time of year. Even though we have seen a harrier
:26:52. > :26:55.take a baby gull. There's lots of gulls. I was here once sitting
:26:56. > :26:57.watching some babies and a heron flew down, grabbed a chick in his
:26:58. > :27:14.mouth, swallowed it and flew off. All drama is here and there are
:27:15. > :27:17.benefits for those looking on. Studies suggest working and living
:27:18. > :27:25.amongst wildlife is good for your health. What else would we be doing?
:27:26. > :27:28.Better than sitting in front of the television. It's happening live
:27:29. > :27:33.They look amazing down the telescope. You don't get that. You
:27:34. > :27:37.get good wildlife programmes on the television but to actually see it
:27:38. > :27:51.through your own scope is amazing. Definitely different.
:27:52. > :27:57.There was one instance where we were having a meeting in the visitor
:27:58. > :28:03.centre and a visitor came running in so excited. They had been sitting
:28:04. > :28:08.with the family and watched a red Deer give birth to a calf.
:28:09. > :28:12.Absolutely amazing. That will stay with them for the rest of their life
:28:13. > :28:16.and they got to experience that as a family at Leighton Moss. If we can
:28:17. > :28:22.provide moments like that for people and that is why we are here really.
:28:23. > :28:28.Didn't they look wonderful? That's all from us for this week but don't
:28:29. > :28:31.forget you can catch us again on the BBC Iplayer and we're back the same
:28:32. > :28:36.time next Monday. Until then, goodbye.
:28:37. > :28:40.Next week, we discover the artist who has been called the Lowry of
:28:41. > :28:42.Cumbria. He drew everything in sight all his life. It was compulsive He
:28:43. > :29:08.couldn't not paint or draw. Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your
:29:09. > :29:12.90 second update. Two women and four dogs have been found shot dead at a
:29:13. > :29:15.house in Farnham. An 82-year-old dog breeder has been arrested on
:29:16. > :29:19.suspicion of murder. He's been named locally as John Lowe.
:29:20. > :29:22.Dave Lee Travis is to face a re-trial over two charges of
:29:23. > :29:25.indecent assault and sexual assault. The former Radio One DJ was cleared
:29:26. > :29:29.of 12 other offences earlier this month. He said his "nightmare goes
:29:30. > :29:33.on". They call it a living hell. These
:29:34. > :29:36.are the faces of men, women and children desperate for food. More
:29:37. > :29:40.than 20,000 are trapped in a bombed-out area in Syria. Just 0
:29:41. > :29:41.packets of food made it in today. We've a special report at